Ethiopia said that Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) talks concluded with “a major common understanding which paves the way for a breakthrough agreement,” according to a Tuesday statement from Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s office.
The statement added that Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan agreed for further technical discussions on the filling to continue in the Africa Union (AU) led process and proceed to a comprehensive agreement.”
The statement also pointed out that the first year of filling the GERD has been achieved due to the heavy rain during the past two weeks. This contradicts Ethiopia’s Minister of Water, Irrigation, and Energy Sileshi Bekele retraction to his previous statement to the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC) on the filling of the Ethiopian Nile dam. He has denied that the country’s government has begun filling the massive dam at the time.
Heads of State and Government of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia ended their mini-summit sponsored by South Africa the current chair of AU without achieving consensus on the disputed points related to filling and operation of the Ethiopian gigantic dam.
During the online discussion that was held on Tuesday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, Sudanese Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdook and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, agreed to let the technical and legal teams of the three countries resume talks.
The negotiation on the Ethiopian dam was observed by the AU Assembly Bureau, representatives from AU member states, the US, and the European Union (EU).
